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What is it about chairs? I once drove past a garage sale in San Francisco and caught a glimpse of a chair. I pulled over and begged the price down to $80. That same chair design, by Luther Conover, is in our California Design exhibition.
Last year while doing interviews for our California Design show, I asked designer John Kapel why chairs have such allure. He gave a thoroughly compelling explanation of why chairs are particularly expressive opportunities for a designer.
According to Kapel, a chair is a showpiece, one that is often positioned in a living room such that it can be appreciated from many different angles – unlike, say, a sofa, which typically sits against a wall. He also explained the complex geometry of a chair, its assortment of lines and angles that invite design innovation. And he made the point that, unlike, say, a table, a chair cradles the human body, and reflects our physicality.
The Huntington has a current exhibition, The House that Sam Built, part of Pacific Standard Time, about the work of another chair master, Sam Maloof, and his midcentury cohort, centered around Claremont. In a stroke of exhibition design genius, one gallery features a Maloof chair you can actually sit in.
When we interviewed textile artist Kay Sekimachi for our own California Design show, she was sitting in a beautiful Sam Maloof rocking chair.
…Completing that circle, the show at the Huntington features some of Kay's weavings (her husband, Bob Stocksdale, was a close friend of Maloof, and his work appears in all of the PST shows discussed here).
After the Huntington, I continued on to the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation to see the house that Sam did build, out in Alta Dena, and another small Pacific Standard Time exhibition, In Words and Wood. A lifelong work in progress, the house is magical – full of Maloof's furniture, paintings by his wife (and her collection of kochina dolls from her days as an art teacher in New Mexico), more carved wooden bowls by Stocksdale, sculpture by Sekimachi, and ceramics by various Claremont friends and colleagues. I intended to spend an hour and spent three.
- Outside the shop at the Maloof Foundation.
One thing leads to another, and for me that day, chairs led to ceramics: from Alta Dena, I went to downtown Pomona to see the American Museum of Ceramic Art in its brand-new location. They have an excellent selection of work by Harrison McIntosh amongst many others (Paul Soldner, Peter Voulkos) in the exhibition Common Ground: Ceramics in Southern California 1945-1975.
Our own show at LACMA includes work by McIntosh, who grew up in Los Angeles (in an interview we did with him, available here, he described how he and his parents commissioned a modest house from Richard Neutra in 1939, adding just enough space and light in the garage to allow Harrison a workbench where he began working with terra cotta). In a room full of notable ceramic works at the AMOCA, his sang. AMOCA is a focused museum, with deep ties to the Claremont arts and crafts scene that included McIntosh and Maloof, as well as Paul Soldner, Millard Sheets, and Rupert Deese. (If you go, I highly recommend a visit to the ceramic studios in the back to see work in progress by a new generation of ceramic artists).
One of the striking things about PST, and particularly the design-related shows, is how small the midcentury SoCal design scene was. You can trace certain relationships amongst friends across shows, and see who shared studio space, taught at the same college, or frequented the same Claremont coffee shop, sharing inspiration and practical advice. Plan a route and trace your own narrative thread here.
At the Sam Maloof house, I heard tell of a visitor from Germany who came to Los Angeles for a month, just to see all of the PST shows. It's not hard to imagine such a journey. Especially because this is what Southern California looks like in December:


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"Casserole dish" geology could help bring FutureGen to Illinois
FARMERSVILLE — Sallie Greenberg compares the Illinois coal basin to a massive sandstone casserole dish where polluting carbon-dioxide emissions can be injected thousands of feet below ground and held for hundreds of years.
A layer of harder rock provides the lid.
It's the not-so-scientific explanation behind a state bid to bring a $1.5 billion FutureGen clean-coal power plant to Illinois. The plant would generate electricity by converting coal to hydrogen, while creating hundreds of permanent and construction jobs.
But it's so-called "carbon sequestration" — injecting carbon dioxide emissions into the earth, much like the storage system for natural gas — that is the key technology to winning the project for Illinois.
"This is the same geology that traps oil and natural gas. We essentially turn that process around and use it as a storage opportunity for carbon dioxide," said Greenberg, an assistant geochemist with the Illinois State Geological Survey.
Her display of the technology was part of a bill-signing ceremony at Freeman United Coal Mine near Farmersville Monday, where Gov. Rod Blagojevich approved $82 million in state incentives intended to bring the project to Illinois. Mattoon and Tuscola, and two sites in Texas, are the finalists for the project.
A public/private investment consortium, including the U.S. Department of Energy, coal and power companies, is expected to announce a decision in November. The Illinois incentives include $17 million in grants, a $50 million low-interest loan and $15 million in tax breaks. The legislation also protects FutureGen from lawsuits for accidents or injuries.
The state has estimated the project would create 1,500 construction jobs, plus 150 permanent and 1,200 spin-off jobs.
"It's a step closer, but we have more work to do," Blagojevich said, adding that Illinois is a logical site for the project with its abundant supply of coal.
"What is really going to determine the decision is the merits, and Illinois can make a very strong case," he said.
As part of the project, the federal Department of Energy began field tests in the spring of the carbon-sequestration technology in Illinois by drilling wells and injecting pressurized carbon dioxide into layers of sandstone.
A top layer of impermeable rock traps the carbon dioxide.
"It's like a big casserole dish beneath the earth," said Greenberg, who is coordinating the carbon-sequestration project for the state geological survey.
Carbon dioxide emissions linked to global warming have become a critical issue in the construction of clean-coal technology, which reduces traditional power-plant emissions such as mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide.
There are no state or federal standards for carbon-dioxide emissions, though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled carbon dioxide should be considered a pollutant under federal clean-air laws.
The Sierra Club earlier this month challenged state approval of a coal-gasification plant near Taylorville because project developers did not include commitments reduce carbon dioxide.
Through use of carbon sequestration, the FutureGen plant would all but eliminate the emissions. Greenberg said the Texas locations have similar geology, but Illinois has not "poked holes" in potential storage areas with widespread drilling for oil and natural gas.
"They've been drilling oil wells (in Texas) for 150 years," she said.
Wednesday is the deadline for Illinois and Texas to submit incentive packages to the FutureGen Alliance. The group is expected to spend the next several months analyzing the applications.
"Now, it's a matter of waiting to see what we did not explain very well and providing follow-up information," said Angela Griffin, a member of Coles Together, a Coles County economic development group that is promoting Illinois as the site of FutureGen.
A group of miners on their lunch break also joined the announcement.
"Anything that would be good for the economy of Illinois is bound to help," said Tony Liebscher, president of Local 12 of the United Mine Workers of America.
Liebscher pointed out that, at age 52, he has worked in the mines for more than 25 years. He said he hopes projects such as FutureGen will improve the future of coal, but that he doubts the Illinois coal industry will return to the kind of coalfield employment it enjoyed when he went to work in 1981.
"I'd like to see it, but I don't really look for it to happen," he said.
Tim Landis can be reached at (217) 788-1536 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Racial bias clouds ability to feel others' pain
Posted by The Situationist Staff on June 2, 2010
From EurekAlert!:
When people witness or imagine the pain of another person, their nervous system responds in essentially the same way it would if they were feeling that pain themselves. Now, researchers reporting online on May 27th in Current Biology, . . . have new evidence to show that that kind of empathy is diminished when people (black or white) who hold racial biases see that pain is being inflicted on those of another race.
The good news is that people continue to respond with empathy when pain is inflicted on people who don't fit into any preconceived racial category—in this case, those who appear to have violet-colored skin.
"This is quite important because it suggests that humans tend to empathize by default unless prejudice is at play," said Salvatore Maria Aglioti of Sapienza Università di Roma.
In the study, conducted in Italy with people of Italian and African descent, participants were asked to watch and pay attention to short films depicting needles penetrating a person's hand or a Q-tip gently touching the same spot while their empathetic response was monitored. (The researchers specifically measured a feature known as sensorimotor contagion, as indicated by changes in the corticospinal reactivity assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation.) The results showed that people watching the painful episode responded in a way that was specific to the particular muscle they saw being stimulated when the film character was of the same race. But those of a different race didn't evoke that same sensorimotor response.
In further studies, the researchers tested individuals' responses to pain inflicted on models with violet hands. Under those circumstances, participants' empathetic responses were restored.
"This default reactivity of human beings implies empathy with the pain of strangers (i.e., a violet model) if no stereotype can be applied to them," said Alessio Avenanti of the Università di Bologna. "However, racial bias may suppress this empathic reactivity, leading to a dehumanized perception of others' experience."
The new findings expand on previous studies that have primarily looked at the neural underpinnings of racial bias based on facial expressions, thus emphasizing people's emotional reaction to the pain of others, the researchers said.
"To the best of our knowledge, our study is the only one that has tested the reactivity to hands and thus hints at the existence of general processes for separating the self from the others that may be largely independent from specific emotions," the researchers explained.
Based on the findings, the researchers suggest that methods designed to restore empathy for people of other races might also help in dealing with racial prejudice.
* * *
For a sample of related Situationist posts, see "It's Hard to Step into Someone Else's Shoes," "New Study Looks at the Roots of Empathy," "Afraid of Knowing Ourselves," "Why Race May Influence Us Even When We "Know" It Doesn't," "The Cognitive Costs of Interracial Interactions," "Guilt and Racial Prejudice," "Perceptions of Racial Divide," and "Hoyas, Hos, & Gangstas."


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By Kathleen Parker
WASHINGTON -- Americans are justified in feeling numbed by the car alarm of Washington politics.
Every now and then we get a reprieve from the noise. Something breaks through: a sex scandal, a gaffe, a surprise resignation. Already the words "Petraeus affair" have been supplanted by "DeMint's departure."
Sometimes our tropes get muddled. Commenting on the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy told reporters: "The president now has to engage. I think the sex -- catches himself -- ... the next 72 hours are critical."
Noisiest is the "fiscal cliff," which will be looming at least until Christmas or even New Year's. What do most Americans know about it? Not much except that Washington, as usual, isn't doing what's necessary to prevent it.
The cliff negotiations between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have taken on the aspect of a game of chicken. Boehner needs spending cuts; Obama needs revenue. America needs both.
Who will blink first before we plummet off the edge into automatic tax increases for all, government spending cuts and a probable recession?
After so many years of partisan intransigence, it's easy enough to assume that all parties are equally guilty, but this time Obama is driving the herd. Elections have consequences, as the president keeps reminding us. By this, he apparently means that he will have things his way, the rest of the country be damned.
Boehner's good-faith attempts at a deal, offering new revenue through reforms as well as leaning toward some limited tax-rate increases, have been met with mockery. Obama's laughable idea of a balanced deal includes taking control of the debt ceiling and doubling revenue demands, while offering little in the way of spending cuts.
In conversations around Washington immediately after the election, Republicans wondered what kind of president Obama would become in his second term. Experienced and confident, would he be the transformational leader so many Americans had hoped he would be once upon a time? This depends on one's definition of transformational -- whether Obama would be a kumbaya post-partisan president or one who reorders the country according to progressive ideology.
His political history, albeit brief, provided the answer even if some failed to notice. Contrary to his campaign rhetoric, the president is not a conciliator but an instigator who habitually doubles down. He may not be a socialist, an accusation he swats away with a bored chuckle, but he
a big-government guy. He believes that government can do dramatic things that benefit a greater swath of society if he can just wrest away some of the lucre from the wealthiest citizens.
Obama was hardly coquettish back in 2008 in describing his vision to that nice plumber fellow, Joe Whatshisname, when he said he thought some of America's wealth needed to be redistributed.
While many on the right became apoplectic at those words, others found it easy to imagine that Obama didn't mean redistribution through confiscation, but rather through a more equitable arrangement of opportunities and rewards in a world where very clearly too much money was concentrated among too few.
Billionaires and tycoons who have gotten so very rich by gaming a system that favors insiders are loved by few. Why shouldn't they share more to minimize others' suffering? How many yachts, jets and homes does one need?
Turns out: Obama really did mean confiscation and redistribution, and this promise is the "gift" that got him elected and got Mitt Romney pilloried. Of
Obama was re-elected at least in part because so much of America now is a constituency of the needy. This is not an indictment of people who have suffered through a terrible economy and job losses. It is simply a fact that many people need a helping hand right now and Obama's is extended.
By contrast, Republicans -- and especially Romney -- seemed merely to be part of the ongoing problem. Viewed as withholders, they were pathetically inarticulate about how conservative fiscal policies could make all boats rise. Now into holiday season, Obama is lighting trees and wishing everyone Merry Christmas, while the GOP grinches keep saying no.
The problems Obama inherited can't be denied. Nor can it be denied that once he felt Republicans were going to block his agenda, he doubled down. All signs now indicate that Obama's transformational presidency will not have Americans holding hands and singing over s'mores.
If we go over the cliff, Republicans will be blamed. And Obama, appearing virtuous while figuring he has four more years to patch things up, will get the middle-class revenues he needs while effectively neutralizing the enemy.
Kathleen Parker writes
for the Washington Post Writers Group.


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Be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. That's the Boy Scout Law. Add be a good guest, stamp out corruption, walk rather than drive, improve governance, and fight the bad guys, and you will have the new code of conduct for counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan.
All together, there are twenty-four precepts in the counterinsurgency guidelines that General Petraeus issued to the troops on August 1. In addition to the ones mentioned above, they include securing the population, acting as a team, partnering with the Afghan Army, and doling out dollars carefully.
In theory, there is something new about these guidelines, which claim to take the general principles of the Army's counterinsurgency field manual and apply them to the specific situation in Afghanistan. In actuality, the word Afghan has merely replaced the more generic "host-nation," which, between 2006 and 2008, was almost always understood as Iraq. Like President Obama, Petraeus is toeing the line on Afghanistan. On the one hand, he is staunchly defending the current strategy against a growing number of critics who say we are losing the war. On the other hand, as the most recent code of conduct exemplifies, he is churning out new directives on the operational end of things to ensure his soldiers and everyone else that he is doing something to turn the tide of a failing war.
It is unlikely that this latest set of directives will do anything to improve the situation in Afghanistan. What they do instead is reveal just how disconnected and unrealistic the counterinsurgency strategy there really is. In terms of personal conduct, Petraeus is asking soldiers to behave themselves nobly, as some but probably not most soldiers naturally would. Let's face it. Most people don't join the army because they want to be good guests in a foreign country and drink tea with their enemies. The rank-and-file's recent backlash against courageous restraint is just the most complicated and pressing example of the clash between the character that counterinsurgency demands and the character that defines conventional military culture.
On top of that, the new directives ask soldiers to advance wildly ambitious structural reforms that even the most experienced of statesmen have not been able to achieve in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Warning against putting money in the wrong hands, the code of conduct reminds soldiers, "We are who we fund." I suppose that makes us both the Pakistani government to which we just promised another five hundred million dollars and the Iraqi government officials who pocketed the nine billion dollars we gave them from oil revenue we controlled during the occupation.
I'm not so sure the higher-ups are in a position to give the rank-and-file any advice on this one. Reading over the twenty-four guidelines is like reading the to-do list of Beaver Cleaver who also just happens to be Superman who also just happens to have a passion for fighting corruption and implementing good governance. The problem here is not just that counterinsurgency expects too much from soldiers. It's that it expects too much from anyone involved in counterinsurgency—civil or military, American or Afghani. Whether practiced by a soldier or a state official, by a native or a foreigner, no individual code of conduct is going to bring about the huge changes in society that are necessary for counterinsurgency to be effective. This latest set of directives just underscores the absurd chasm between America's enormously ambitious goals in Afghanistan and the embarrassingly simplistic and hokey conception of how to achieve them.
When I was in the Girl Scouts, they used to tell us to "always leave a place cleaner than you found it." No matter how many codes of conduct Petraeus writes, when the US finally withdraws, Afghanistan will probably be even dirtier than before.


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5 Reasons We're Thankful for the 100th Episode of The Good Wife
Sure, everyone knows that Thanksgiving is this week. But fans of The Good Wife have another reason to be thankful aside from the requisite turkey and stuffing coming to a dinner table near you. This Sunday marks the drama's 100th episode (9/8c, CBS), and boy, does the show deliver. Already in the middle of an acclaimed, high-octane season, the 100th episode includes the return of several fan-favorite guest stars, a suspenseful (and very personal!) legal case, some juicy new flashbacks and more:
1. Kalinda is back in the driver's seat: After spending most of the first part of the season lending various helping hands to Will (Josh Charles), Diane (Christine Baranski) and Cary (Matt Czuchry), our favorite private investigator -you're a close second, Robyn! - finally steps out of the shadows and into the limelight, courtesy of Damian Boyle (Jason O'Mara). Fans were already well aware that it was dangerous to put Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) near a motor vehicle, so seeing her behind the wheel and on Boyle's tail in this week's episode is a real treat. Thankfully, Kalinda will find a nice outlet for that adrenaline when she shares a romp in the sack with a new friend. Now, if someone could just locate her trusty baseball bat...
2013 Fall TV report card: How's the new class doing?
2. Jackie and Veronica, together again: As we previewed last week, Sunday's episode will see Florrick/Agos unveil their new "hipster" offices at a big Christmas party, and both Peter's mom, Jackie, and Alicia's mom, Veronica, will be getting into the holiday spirit. Both Mary Beth Peil and Stockard Channing bring their A-game once again when they share a few exchanges. And you thought last year's Thanksgiving at the Florricks was awkward!
3. More returning guest stars: Gary Cole, Carrie Preston, Mamie Gummer, America Ferrera. The casting department of The Good Wife has spoiled loyal fans this season with returning favorites. Sunday's episode not only marks the return of Nathan Lane as court appointed trustee-turned-Florrick/Agos' financial advisor Clarke Hayden, but will show his character in a completely new light: as a practicing lawyer. Aw, his old tutor Cary must be so proud. However, they outdo themselves this week by bringing John Noble's Matthew Ashbaugh back from the dead - again!
The Good Wife's10 biggest twists
4. New flashbacks: At a press event earlier this season, Julianna Margulies teased that this season's court scenes are sexier than sex and she was not exaggerating. Similar to Noble's first appearance on the show in Season 4's stellar St. Patrick's Day episode, the latest case regarding the now-deceased Ashbaugh still stir up Alicia's old memories of her hot and heavy romance with Will back in Season 3. However, unlike last time, viewers will also get a chance to see those memories from Will's perspective, as he scrambles to use what he can remember against Alicia. Things are going to get dirty!
5. A big reveal: We really, really don't want to ruin the element of surprise - even though it's kind of sort of our job to do that. So we'll just say that the final moments of this week's episode will answer a burning question fans didn't even know they had while also, naturally, creating a few more (and much more pressing) inquiries.
The Good Wife's 100th episode airs Sunday at 9/8c on CBS.
(Full Disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS.)
View original 5 Reasons We're Thankful for the 100th Episode of The Good Wife at TVGuide.com
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Monsters University2013 Animation | Comedy | Family
Ever since college-bound Mike Wazowski was a little monster, he has dreamed of becoming a Scarer-and he knows better than anyone that the best Scarers come from Monsters University (MU). But during his first semester at MU, Mike's plans are derailed when he crosses paths with hotshot James P. Sullivan, "Sulley", a natural-born Scarer. The pair's out-of-control competitive spirit gets them both kicked out of the University's elite Scare Program. To make matters worse, they realize they will have to work together, along with an odd bunch of misfit monsters, if they ever hope to make things right.


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Between family events, Shavuos and then Shabbat I was away all week in another state. I couldn't wait, however, to share my experience of a very special Shabbat.
On the Shabbat prior to Shavuot (Parshat Nasso) I stayed by some good friends who are members of the Manhattan Sephardic Congregation (325 East 75th Street, New York, NY 10021). Having grown up in Uruguay with a lot of Sephardi cronies, attending a shul – here in Brooklyn – where we have quite a few Persian members, I was somewhat familiar with non-Ashkenazi rites, or so I thought…
On Friday eve – erev Shabbat, as everyone was reciting the Shir Hashirim together, there was a certain electricity in the air. The recitation wasn't just a word mouthing exercise, the fervor was palpable! Each chapter was led by a different member of the kehilla, each picking up where the other left off, without skipping a beat. The tfilllot and their haunting, lilting melodies transported me to another era, to another place. Shabbat eve's meal consisted of Moroccan and Latin American dishes, a delight for the eyes, the nose, the palate. For the first time in many a decade, a major part of the conversation was in Spanish, I loved it. All that, however, was just the appetizer for what was about to come. The tfillot on Shabbat day introduced me to even greater depths of feeling. Never since I returned to the US in 1977 – after 10 years in Eretz Yisroel – did I get to join other kohanim on a Shabbat for the birkat kohanim on a regular Shabbat, not once but twice! Though the melodies were far different from any I was used to, there was something indescribably beautiful in the voices, the words, the emotions. Many time I was left full of awe after the blessings, but never before, here in chutz la'aretz, have I felt so much like a true descendant of Aharon HaKohen.
Rabbi Benchimol, the Congregation's Rav, gave an inspiring drasha (but even this was only a forerunner of things to come) weaving golden threads, from Sephardi and Ashkenazi sfarim, into a stunningly rich tapestry.
After Mussaf was over we had kiddush. The previous evening I'd been warned that this particular kiddush was rather a meager one… Meager? By what standards?!?!? Like most of the members, I had challah at the kiddush, there was no need for further lunch. They dare call this meager?!?
Before mincha Rabbi Benchimol gave a shiur, again the wealth and breadth of his lamdut reminded me of a large treasure chest bursting with precious stones, with gold, with silver. Not only does he know his mekorot but his way of meshing them together, his insights, had us all enthralled as we listened and eagerly picked up every pearl pouring forth..
The seudah shlishit, was a veritable feast again, but by this time I expected it to be… and it didn't disappoint. The warmth of the predominantly Moroccan congregation, the depth of the feelings evoked, tfillot that left me feeling feeling humbled but inspired, made this a Shabbat I will long treasure. One Ashkenazi member of MSC told me – in response to my question as to what brought him to a Sephardic bet knesset – "I find myself emotionally drawn to this minyan!" Frankly, I'm starting to feel the same way…


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Nicki Minaj Named New 'American Idol' Judge, Joins Mariah Carey
NEW YORK (AP) - The "American Idol" judges' panel is now complete with the naming of singer-rapper Nicki Minaj and country crooner Keith Urban.
The Fox network officially tapped the pair with an announcement Sunday, confirming rumors surrounding them both just hours before the first round of auditions for next season was due to begin in New York.
Minaj is getting $12 million for a one-year deal on the hit Fox singing series, a person in the music industry with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Sunday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the deal.
A representative for Urban wouldn't disclose the singer's compensation for "Idol."
The announcement also settled the status of Randy Jackson. He will stay put as the sole remaining original "Idol" judge, scotching rumors he might assume a different role on the popular talent competition.
This trio will join pop star Mariah Carey at a judges' panel now expanded to four members from its previous three. The AP reported in July that Carey is receiving just shy of $18 million for a one-year contract with a renewal option.
Arriving at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where the auditions would take place, Urban hailed "Idol" for its "great history of producing real stars."
As an "Idol" judge, he said he plans to be "authentic" but not cruel.
"I did similar shows when I was very young in Australia," he recalled, "and I was sort of crucified by one judge. So I don't know that I'll ever be THAT guy."
Minaj said during the auditions she'll be looking for "a superstar," which, she explained, is "something that can't be defined in words."
Jackson called this pair of hires a "fresh, fresh, fresh 'Idol' one-two!"
Minaj, he said, "brings a whole other cool vibe we've never had on the show, and Keith Urban? My God, he's unbelievably talented!"
When Carey was asked whether she had eagerly awaited news of who would join her as judges, she cracked that, no, she hadn't, "because all I really care about is me," but quickly added, "Only kidding."
Turning serious, she said she didn't know what kind of judge she would be.
"Am I the mean one? Am I the nice one? ... It's not about me, me, me, it's about them (the contestants) and what I can bring to them to help guide them in the right direction," said Carey.
Ryan Seacrest will remain as host when the show returns for its 12th season in January.
"Last night," he said, "we had a chance to really get together for the first time as a group. Everybody made a toast and talked about how special it was that they were here, and why they were here. So we're off to a good start."
Seacrest took note of "the serious and obvious diversity on this panel," adding, "You can see just by the panel the kind of power the show has."
The makeup of the panel has been in flux since Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez announced their exits in July. Carey signed on later that month.
"I am thrilled about this year's judges panel," said Mike Darnell, Fox president of Alternative Entertainment. "With an unparalleled star like Mariah, fan-favorite Randy, chart-toppers like Nicki and Keith and our incomparable host Ryan, we've put together one of the most exciting judging panels around."
"Idol" is looking for its famous new faces to supercharge a show that remains a ratings leader but has seen its viewership and pop-culture clout erode in recent seasons in an increasingly crowded talent show field. Besides Fox sibling "The X Factor," which recently added Britney Spears and Demi Lovato as judges, there's NBC's "The Voice," which boasts Christina Aguilera among its big names.
Minaj, 29, is known for her colorful hairstyles, wardrobe and antics. A native of Trinidad who grew up in New York, she has scored with hits like "Starships," ''Turn Me On," and "Super Bass," her seventh single, which has sold more than 4 million copies.
She is the first female solo artist to have seven singles simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She released her second studio album, "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded," in April, and since then it has sold 1 million copies worldwide.
The 44-year-old Urban has four Grammy Awards and 14 No. 1 hits, and was named Male Vocal Artist of the Year three times, as well as Entertainer of the Year, by the Country Music Association. His latest CD, "Get Closer," has produced three consecutive No. 1 singles.
The New Zealand native is married to Australia-born film star Nicole Kidman.
"American Idol" ended the 2011-12 season as the leading entertainment show and No. 2 overall, just behind NBC's top-rated "Sunday Night Football."
But the show aired its least-watched finale ever and the advertiser-favored young adult audience has been steadily shrinking. The show's cachet hasn't been helped by a run of champions who have failed to achieve the career sizzle of past competitors Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
Watch "Game Changer in Entertainment: Nicki Minaj"
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-594960{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-594960, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-594960{width:476px;height:357px;display:block;}
See Photos of Nicki Minaj's Fashion Evolution


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Sacramento Handicap Bathtubs
People with disabilities often have their reasons for wanting to take a bath independently. But as a family who cares and worry for them, you probably won't allow them to bathe on their own. We get the fear, but why settle for worrying too much when you can give them the bathtub especially made for them?
Here at Sacramento Walk In Tubs, we care for the welfare of your handicapped loved ones. Persons with mobility issues are prone to accidents in the bathtub so that it might be considered as the most dangerous part of the house for them. We aim to change that reality by setting up the bathtub more accessible and safer for physically disabled individuals.
We designed several options that come with both style and convenience. Our team ensures to accommodate the needs of individuals challenged with mobility by providing them a way to relax during their bath. A wide range of features is also made available by the expertise of our staff.
Our specialists do not let incapability be the limit for someone's will to be independent in such daily activities. At a price you won't regret, we will deliver the best bathtub experience for your loved ones with physical issues.
Contact Sacramento Walk In Tubs at (916) 999-5833 for a free consultation with a Sacramento handicap bathtub expert now!
Diverse Handicap Bathtubs
The categories that made differences among handicap bathtubs vary depending on the door type (no door, inward or outward opening, upward or sideways opening), entry style (walk-in, lift-in or slide-in) and position the bather makes while taking a bath (sitting or lying down). It is substantial to consider the kind of disability your family member has while choosing the best bathtub for him/her.
1. Walk-in Bathtub with Inward Opening Door
This type allows the physically disabled user to enter the tub easily and quickly through a swinging gate-like door. The same space is used as a traditional bathtub. The door feature doesn't require stepping in to enter. It reduces fall incidents and possible injuries.
2. Walk-in Cube Bathtub with Outward Swinging Front Door
Compared to standard bathtubs, its threshold is lower, making it easy to enter. Its outward opening enables the bather to come out of the bathtub faster during an emergency. The user must have the ability to step in without a wheelchair. It may require assistance to get in successfully.
3. Slide-in Bathtub, Seated Version with Outward Swinging Door
You or your family member can sit down on the provided seat before fully entering the tub. Upon sitting, one leg will be raised after another to get inside. It is best for those who have difficulties stepping in. If your loved one uses a wheelchair, he can easily slide-in laterally to transfer to the tub seat.
4. Slide-in Bathtub, Lying Down Version with Outward Swinging Door
This kind of bathtub is entirely leveled with a standard chair height. The user doesn't have to step in too because he can just transfer seat followed by raising one leg at a time to get inside the tub proper. It accommodates a wheelchair user effectively. The handicapped person can also lie down and submerge his upper back and shoulders.
5. Pull-up Bathtub, Seated Version
This is another bathtub that doesn't require stepping in. Your family member can just easily sit first before going inside and lift their legs into the tub. This can be used by people who can still walk and wheelchair users as well. But remember that its mechanical components require maintenance to be used accurately.
6. Pull-up Bathtub, Lying Version
This tub is a 'no stepping in' kind because the entire bathtub is made in chair height. The user can simply raise his/her legs in order to get in. This can accommodate ambulatory patients and wheelchair users. When you help your family member, the levitated height makes it easier for you to assist.
These are the common types of handicap tubs we've provided for our customers. And you know what's even better than this wide set of choices? All these you can choose and purchase at an affordable price!
The Best Provider of Handicap Bathtubs in Sacramento, California
The myriad of services we provide for people with physical disabilities is undeniably beneficial. The comfort and safety they need are paramount. That is why we have given independent bathing time for handicapped persons for years and counting.
Sacramento Walk In Tubs has accumulated experiences and expertise to satisfy our future clients. We assure you that we will install handicap bathtubs with quality materials, able to hurdle the test of time. We work not only for safety but for your taste of beauty as well.
Our Sacramento team of trained and professional workers has seen different situations from different homes. You and your loved one with a physical disability might be facing a unique inconvenience from others. So it is vital for us to hear your circumstance before starting your bathtub renovation.
We Answer with Care
While we consider the design best suited for your bathroom, we understand the worry that comes with finances. Sacramento Walk In Tubs ensures to provide handicap bathtubs thinking through the space you have, the accessibility you need, and the budget you can offer.
Contact Sacramento Walk In Tubs at (916) 999-5833 for a free consultation with a Sacramento handicap bathtub expert now!


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Music: Georges Bizet
Libretto: Henri Meilhac, Ludovic Halévy
Musical preparation: Jiří Bělohlávek
Conductor: Zbyněk Müller
Stage director: Jozef Bednárik
Sets: Vladimír Čáp
Costumes: Ľudmila Várossová
Chorus master: Pavel Vaněk
Chorus master of the Kühn's Children's Choir: Jiří Chvála
Dramaturgy: Jan Panenka
National Theatre Orchestra
National Theatre Chorus
Ballet of the National Theatre Opera
Kühn Children's Choir
Premiere: March 15, 1999
The story of Carmen, a passionate Gipsy whose love can never be won for good and whose flighty life ends at the hand of a spurned lover, the soldier Don José, has captivated audiences worldwide for decades. Carmen is an opera abounding in sensuous and sultry melodies, which the stage director Jozef Bednárik has succeeded in shaping into a magnificent theatrical spectacle.
Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet of the National Theatre Opera
The opera is staged in French original version and Czech and English surtitles are used in the performance.
Photo: Hana Smejkalová
Duration of the performance: 2 hours and 55 minutes, 1 intermission


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Nigerian girls are being forced to work as prostitutes in Mali "slave camps," Nigerian officials say, reports CISA.
The girls, many of them underage, are often promised jobs in Europe but end up in brothels, said the government's anti-trafficking agency. According to BBC correspondent, the brothels are run by older Nigerian women who prevent them from leaving and take all their earnings.
Nigeria's National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (Naptip) said officials visited Mali in September to follow up "horrendous reports" from victims, aid workers and clergy in Mali.The agency said it was working with Malian police to free the girls and help them return to Nigeria.
They said there were hundreds of brothels, each housing up to 200 girls, run by Nigerian "madams" who force them to work against their will and take their earnings.
"We are talking of thousands and thousands of girls," Simon Egede, Executive Secretary of Naptip, told a news conference in Abuja, adding that they were between 20,000 to 40,000.
He, however, did not give details as to how the figure had been reached.
In a statement, Egede said girls were "held in bondage for the purposes of forced sexual exploitation and servitude or slavery-like practices."
"The madams control their freedom of movement, where they work, when they work and what they receive," he said.
The trade is centred on the capital Bamako and large cities, but the most notorious brothels are in the mining towns of Kayes and Mopti, where the sex workers live in "near slavery conditions," said Naptip.
Many of the brothels there also had abortion clinics where foetuses were removed by traditional healers for use in rituals, said Egede.
Most of the girls were reported to have come from Delta and Edo States in Nigeria.
Many were lured with the promise of work in Europe, given fake travel documents and made to swear an oath that they would not tell anyone where they were going.
On arrival in Mali, they were told they would have to work as prostitutes to pay off their debts. Prostitution is legal in Mali but not if it involves minors.
Naptip said it had also uncovered two major trafficking routes used to transport the women from Nigeria through Benin, Niger and Bukina Faso to Mali.
Egede said Naptip was working with the police in Mali to return the girls to Nigeria safely, shut down the trade and prosecute the traffickers.
Report from the Christian Telegraph


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Hello! I'm Natalia Bonner, owner of Piece N Quilt in Heber, UT. You can read all about me here. I'm so excited to be sharing my first Moda Bake Shop project with you. What better way to start my Moda Bake Shop sharing than with a quilt titled "I'm Blushing!"
1 Jelly Roll Basics Milk
1 Blush Jelly Roll
3.5 coordinating yards backing
1 coordinating yard binding
Start by separating your jelly rolls. From your Blush jelly roll separate out three white prints for centers of your blocks.
Separate out 3 brown strips for the flower stems and petals.
From your white prints cut 24 – 2.5″x2.5″ squares.
Now for your sashing you will use your white jelly roll strips.
For the bottom portion start by sewing 3, 24.5″ strips together side by side.
The sew one square block to the top of that strip.
Next you will sew a brown stem that is 20.5″ to a white strip that is 10.5″
Then sew two white strips that are 30.5″ side by side as shown in the image above.
Now add a brown strip that is 26.5″ with a white strip that is 4.5″ next to a 30.5″ white strip as shown in the image above.
Now sew together a 18.5″ brown strip with a 4.5″ white strip on the top. Sew a 22.5″ white strip to the side of that creating a piece that looks like the image above.
Now you will sew the bottom section of blocks together as shown in the image above.
Sew them together in sections. First attach stem four to the lower blocks. Then attach the rectangle bocks to the top of that section.
Now sew the 3rd stem to the block section, attach the square blocks to the top of the right portion. Last attach the first two stems and you should have a bottom section that looks like the image above.
I now add my applique to this bottom portion before sewing the top and bottom portions together. For me it's just less bulk to put through the machine.
For the applique you will take the 4 prints that you set aside at the beginning.
Now, cut those strips into 1/4ths and sew them back together side by side creating a square. As shown in the image above.
For my circle flower I like to use a bowl to for my shape. Then refer to my starch applique tutorial to see my quick way of adding applique with no fusible.
Repeat this process with some scraps for the small circle centers. I used a cup for my template, perfect size.
Use the image above to refer to for applique placement.
I used a blanket stitch and brown thread to applique by machine.
Sew the top and bottom portions together. Add a white border using your white jelly roll strips.
Now quilt.
Bind and enjoy!
1 Blush Quilt 57″x63″


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Video Shows Justin Bieber WASN'T Driving Ferrari in Keyshawn Johnson Confrontation
Justin Bieber VIDEO SHOWS HE WASN'T THE DRIVER
Score one for Justin Bieber ... he was NOT driving his Ferrari the day Keyshawn Johnson confronted him for reckless driving -- and there's video that proves it.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies went to Justin's Calabasas home to check out security video from Memorial Day -- that's when Keyshawn and other neighbors claimed Justin was driving at breakneck speeds through their neighborhood, endangering adults, children and pets.
Tyler, the Creator told TMZ last night ... HE was driving the Ferrari ... not Justin. We've learned the video shows just that.
Law enforcement sources tell us ... the 5-minute video shows the Ferrari pulling into Justin's driveway with Tyler behind the wheel. Justin follows closely behind on his motorcycle.
Keyshawn shows up 30 seconds later, as Tyler gets out of the car and Justin gets in so he can make the tight maneuver into the garage.
Here's the conundrum ... at least one witness insists Justin was driving the car, but the video doesn't show it.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the Sheriff's Dept. will send the case over to the L.A. County D.A. for review, but one source says it's "highly unlikely" the D.A. will file criminal charges against anyone.


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How to Remove an Old Bolt
What is the best way to chop a rusty quarter-inch split-shank Rawl bolt? The crowbar is trashing the rock, and the bolt isn't moving. The bolt is placed in a dish, so I can't get a hacksaw in there. Can I use a cold chisel? Any other ideas?
What is the best way to chop a rusty quarter-inch split-shank Rawl bolt? The crowbar is trashing the rock, and the bolt isn't moving. The bolt is placed in a dish, so I can't get a hacksaw in there. Can I use a cold chisel? Any other ideas?
Earlier this year I broke off a jaw tooth and pondered my uncle who pulled all of his teeth with a pair of pliers. But folks who grew up in the Great Depression (not to be confused with the Awesome Depression we are currently in) were cut from a different cloth. After tounguing the bleeding stump for a couple of weeks, I saddled myself into a dentist's chair like a little sissy. I entertained the dentist with the story of my uncle and asked if he had some sort of special dentist's tool to quickly and painlessly remove the broken tooth.
"Of course," he said. "We are not in Russia anymore!"
He then reached in my mouth with a pair of vice grips and pried out the tooth.
My point is, I have lots of ideas, Emily, and not many of them have to do with removing bolts. But a few do, and you asked …
Let's start with your vernacular. "Chopping" is an ugly and violent word for the graceful act of coaxing a faithful old bolt out of its hole. Show some respect! Let's try the word "retrofitting." See the difference wordplay can make? Watching your language is especially important when conveying your actions to anti-climbers, such as anyone who doesn't climb, and all of those who do.
Forget the chisel and crowbar. These cold and insensitive brutes do a poor job and scar the stone. For examples of what I'm talking about, go climb any rap-bolted route circa the mid 1980s.
To extract your bolt, you need a "tuning fork," a #3 or #4 Lost Arrow pin with its center cut or ground out so it resembles, guess what, a tuning fork! The pin modification is tough and requires special tools that can nip off your fingers. Don't try it at home! Instead, contact the fine folks at the American Safe Climbing Association (www.safeclimbing.org) and they will sell you one.
With tuning fork in hand, pry the bolt and hanger out far enough to accept the fork. Do this by gently hammering a long, thin knifeblade under the hanger. Work the pin from all angles. You may need to repeat the process using a larger pin before the tuning fork will slip behind the bolt hanger. With the fork in place, tap its eye until it is driven to the hilt. If the bolt hasn't already popped out, clip and weight the fork's eye, gently levering out. Bingo.
Extremely rusty bolts, especially those with threaded ends and nuts rather than button heads (see photo), might break off rather than pull. Don't freak out. Go home and get more tools. You will need a cordless hammer drill fitted with a high-speed steel ¼-inch bit. Drill the bolt shard out of the hole (the bolt will usually break off flush to the rock). Try your drill on spin-only mode, but if that doesn't work, switch it over to hammer and spin. If that fails, leave the bits of bolt in the hole and artfully patch over it with a mix of epoxy resin and rock dust. If the bolt did come out cleanly, re-drill the hole to either 3/8- or 1/2-inch and set a new anchor.


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So, I've fallen so far off the Independence Days record keeping wagon, that to do an update is almost laughable. 😉 Just going off of the egg counts I've kept, and memory, here is what our summer has looked like. But keep in mind, I've not kept track the way I intended to this year at all. I'm not sure if I'll keep record for the rest of the summer or not. I will for the eggs… I've really enjoyed watching that tally. But the rest? I'm not sure.
Plant: In May it was tomatoes, onions, basil, habanero peppers, chives, strawberries, beets, carrots, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, watermelon, sunflowers, Mexican sour gherkins, GIANT pumpkins, rhubarb, and lavender. I transplanted a few things in July, but otherwise there was no planting after May. Also – our strawberry plants all died. 😦
Eggs: 617, plus or minus. There were about five days in July where we missed counting.
Spinach, chard, arugula, peas, mint, beets, garlic scapes, zucchini and summer squash, kale, cherry tomatoes, beets
Strawberries: 7 quarts
Asparagus: 12 lbs (approx.)
Sour cherries: 8 lbs after pitting
Garlic: 9.75 lbs
2 old hens and a cockerel
Frozen: 9.5 quarts chicken stock, 2 quarts turkey stock, 2# pizza dough, 5 quarts strawberries, 2.5 lbs cherries
Canned: 3 pints peach ginger preserves, 8 half-pints cherry jam, 7.5 half-pints strawberry preserves, 3.5 pints garlic scape pickles
Dried: 3 lbs sour cherries
Waste Not: Scraps given to chickens and/or compost pile
Want Not: 6 gallons of white vinegar, 10lbs baking soda, bulk baking powder, bulk pasta. Got a few huge bins of clothes for C from friends (she's covered until 3T!).
Eat the Food: yes.
Build Community:
Neighbor shared rhubarb with us, hosted the May and July potlucks
Skill Up:
May: started on the flagstone patio
June: learned more about harvesting our honey (though still have not), and tending our top bar hive
July: learned to grout and repair tile


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"... the individual and the society are deprived of the formidable power of free imagination that musical composition offers them. We are able to tear down this iron curtain, thanks to the technology of computers..."
"Music is then no longer primarily conceived as a guide for premeditated emotions, but as the density of the possible relationships which first become actuality during production under the influence of chance, and which during performance are presented to the listener as sounds beyond any environmental associatiations, independent of bodily actions required to produce sounds..."
"The use of computers is the logical outcome of a historical development. It by no means heralds a new musical epoch; it simply offers a fast, reliable and versatile means of solving problems that already demanded solution. The person who writes the computer programme must bear the development of musical language up to the present in mind, and try to advance a stage further."
"... but beware, technique can submerge the user: We must defend ourselves; it is good to use techniques, but we have to dominate them, to stay alert."
"... and the hope of an extraordinary aesthetic success based on extraordinary technology is a cruel deceit."
"With the development of electronic and computer music, multidemnsionality of sound representation turned out to be both natural and useful. But music goes beyond multidimensionality -- it is even more complex."
"The danger is great of letting oneself be trapped by the tools and of becoming stuck in the sands of technology that has come like an intruder into the relatively calm waters of the thought in instrumental music."
"The characteristics of every sound depend on the way in which the sound was produced. Each art-form exploits its special production methods in order to endow the phenomena with unmistakable characteristics. Artistic economy demands that the means be appropriate to the end, and that the exploitation of the means be an end in itself."
"... the use of numerical machines no longer stands in need of justification. It is not a mystery. If there is a mystery, it is in the mental structures of music and not in the computers, which are only tools, extensions of the hand and the slide rule."
"Composers are now able, as never before, to satisfy the dictates of that inner ear of the imagination. They are also lucky so far in not being hampered by esthetic codification -- at least not yet! But I am afraid it will not be long before some musical mortician begins embalming electronic music in rules."
"The computing machine is a marvelous invention and seems almost superhuman. But in reality it is as limited as the mind of the individual who feeds it material. Like the computer, the machines we use for making music can only give back what we put into them."


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Last year, we found the funniest costume and we really wanted it for E (who has earned the nickname "Angry Elf"). But we couldn't find it in E's size. This year, Target is carrying the costume – for $20.
Basically these are brown and plaid, super-thin pajamas with a felt hat, fake beard and felt booties. TWENTY dollars!?!?
So, I tried my hand at making it myself. E already had hand-me-down green corduroy overalls and a red plaid shirt from H, so that part was easy. Turns out, the rest was easy too. Click the pictures for a closer view.
I got four pieces of 9×12″ felt for a dollar at Hobby Lobby. Make that seventy cents – since it was my lucky day and the felt was 30% off. And a piece of white craft fur for $2.99.
Step one: using two pieces of felt, trace and cut out hat shape. Make sure to leave a seam allowance and that the brim will fit your babe's noggin, plus a little wiggle room since the beard will be sewn into the hat. I had to sew in little extra felt triangles since E needed just slightly more than 18 inches (pictured later). Trace a beard shape on the back of the craft fur and cut out. I suggest making the beard at the bottom of the piece fur so that you won't accidentally cut the hair that hangs down at the bottom too short.
Step two: Cut two eyebrows from scraps of the craft fur. Trim them to be a bit shaggy and then pin them to the front of the hat. Sew eyebrows on.
Step three: If you need to add a bit of felt to make the brim fit your little one's head, sew triangles to the back piece of the hat. You can see my little triangles already attached where the beard is pinned. Cut a six to seven-inch piece of thin elastic (I had some of this left over from a earlier project). Center, pin and sew the elastic to the inside of the back hat piece. Pin and sew the beard ends to the ends of the elastic. Note that I sewed them as shown in the picture, but if I had a do-over, I'd turn the beard ends out before sewing them on so they'd lay more naturally when the hat is worn. Details, people. 😉
Step four: Pin the right sides of the hat together, sew and trim up any threads. Turn right side out. Voilà!
For the shoes, trace and cut a sole, a tongue and two sides of a shoe that will fit your kiddo on two pieces of felt (or on one piece and cut both pieces at the same time). Give the sides a nice curl, so when it's put together the toes will curl a little. Cut two 1.5-2-inch pieces of thin elastic.
Sew the backs of the shoe sides together, right sides out/wrong sides together. The seams should be showing on the outside of the shoe. Next sew the elastic to the inside, centering with the center of the back of the shoe. Then sew the sides to the tongue, again, wrong sides together.
You've just made the "upper" of a felt elf shoe. Although, the story books would usually have it happen the other way around… the old shoemaker would be proud. At any rate, they should now look like sole-less shoes. Pin the soles to the upper, again, with the seams showing on the outside. Sew the soles on.
All done. Little gnome shoes. Not the best to use in a house with hardwood floors, unless your gnome can't walk. But they will do for one night on the streets, begging for candy and creeping out old people.
Finally, dress the Angry Elf as a happy garden gnome. And laugh all the way back to Target to return that ridiculously over priced costume. You just made yours for $3.69 plus tax.
Note: Please feel free to share this tutorial on your own blog, just include a link back here! Thanks!


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Tiger Woods joins vacationing Obama for golf round
PALM CITY, Fla. — President Barack Obama teed it up with Tiger Woods on Sunday.
The White House confirmed that the President and the world's most famous golfer played a round at a secluded, exclusive yacht and golf club on Florida's Treasure Coast.
Once the sport's dominant player before his career was sidetracked by scandal, Woods joined Obama at the Floridian, where Obama is spending the long Presidents Day weekend. The two had met before, but Sunday was the first time they played together.
The White House, which has promised to be the most open and transparent in history, has prohibited any media coverage of Obama's golf outing.
The foursome also included Jim Crane, a Houston businessman who owns the Floridian and baseball's Houston Astros, and outgoing U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, a former mayor of Dallas, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. Crane and Kirk also were part of Obama's foursome on Saturday, the White House said.
Obama, an avid golfer, also received some instruction Saturday and played a few holes with Butch Harmon, Woods' former swing coach.
Initial word that the First Duffer would play a round with the world's No. 2 player didn't come from the White House, but instead came from veteran golf journalist Tim Rosaforte, who announced it on Twitter. Rosaforte's late-morning tweet said: "The president is arriving at the Floridian range. Awaiting is Tiger Woods and club owner Jim Crane. Historic day in golf. Their first round."
White House confirmation of Woods' participation came about two hours later, following multiple appeals from traveling White House reporters.
Golf Digest reported on its website that Obama spent eight hours Saturday with Harmon, playing 27 holes and hitting balls in Harmon's studio, and then managed to coordinate Sunday's round with Woods. The report said the original plan called for Obama and Woods, a Florida resident, to play at Woods' home club — The Medalist Golf Club, a half-hour away in Hobe Sound. But they eventually opted for the Floridian.
Woods departed Sunday after the first 18 holes, with Obama staying on to play another nine, the report said.
"Just to see the interaction between the two on the range was pretty neat," Harmon told Golf Digest. "The President said to Tiger: 'The last tournament you played was fun to watch. It's good to see you play well again.' You could tell he meant it. It just wasn't a throw it out compliment."
It seems Obama and Woods — the first black men at the top of their respective fields — have spent the past few years inching toward Sunday's meeting on the fairway.
They met in January 2009, during Obama's inauguration in Washington. Four months later, in April, Woods visited the White House and Obama received him in the Oval Office.
Woods' personal life imploded later in 2009 after revelations that he had engaged in multiple extramarital affairs, leading to divorce. He followed with a public apology and announced he was taking an indefinite break from golf. Shortly after Woods announced he was coming out of seclusion, Obama said in an interview with Fox News Channel that Woods will still be a "terrific" golfer despite his personal issues.
After returning to the sport, Woods went two years without winning, but his game is back on track and he currently is ranked No. 2 in the world. Woods won the last tournament he played, three weeks ago in San Diego.
The White House made clear from the start of Obama's trip that there would be no coverage of him because he would be on vacation with no plans to leave the club, which remained open to members and their guests.
It arranged for the pool of reporters who traveled with Obama to bunk at a Holiday Inn about a 20-minute drive away in Port St. Lucie. Whenever the reporters were brought to the Floridian on the off chance that Obama might leave the property, they were taken no further than a maintenance shed beyond the club gates but on the edge of the grounds.
The presence at the Floridian of a professional journalist who tweeted about Obama's game as he was playing, while White House reporters essentially were locked out, brought a sharp response from Ed Henry, the Fox News Channel correspondent who also is president of the White House Correspondents' Association.
"A broad cross section of our members from print, radio, online and TV have today expressed extreme frustration to me about having absolutely no access to the president of the United States this entire weekend," Henry said in a statement. "There is a very simple but important principle we will continue to fight for today and in the days ahead: transparency."
In response, Earnest, the White House spokesman said: "The press access granted by the White House today is entirely consistent with the press access offered for previous presidential golf outings. It's also consistent with the press access promised to the White House Press Corps prior to arrival in Florida on Friday evening."
Previous administrations have allowed brief news media coverage at either the beginning or the end of presidential golf games. Obama's policy generally is no coverage at all, but exceptions were made for separate outings he had in 2011 with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and former President Bill Clinton.
Golf Channel said Rosaforte is a member of the Floridian who sent his tweets from the clubhouse. Rosaforte did not have access to the course or to Obama, the network said.
Obama is in Florida while his wife and daughters are on an annual ski vacation out West. He was due to arrive back in Washington on Monday night.


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Belinda has been doing a lot of gloating and gleeful rubbing of hands over the past couple of weeks, and we suspect we might know why.
About a week and a half ago, she began making references to a "very secret conclave" she'd attended:
Have been at a very secret conclave all day today (19 May 2018) since 11am, woohoo! ….At the said Conclave we had TV on from the late morning so I caught the tail-end of the footage from Windsor but we had a great deal else to discuss.
The references to the royal wedding and her deceased sister seem a bit odd in this context, but clearly Belinda was feeling quite jolly—always a sign that she's cooking up some sort of plot. We decided to watch and wait.
On Monday, she dropped another subtle hint:
Am getting a bit old now but am nowhere near done and still have a trick or two up my sleeve (sshh!) so am hoping lots more will join me and me them in the upcoming new year of my life.
Of course it's possible that in her dotage Belinda has decided to learn how to do conjuring tricks for the entertainment of her grandchildren. But the reference to "something up her sleeve" sounded more like confirmation of her earlier post: Belinda is almost certainly hatching some sort of plan.
Lee Cant spills the beans
Sadly for Belinda, we suspect we have some idea what she and her fellow "secret conclave" members have in mind. In fact, one of her minions, Lee Cant, emailed us last week to tell us:
yes we are ORG. a JURY of 24 folk to do retrial on the Hampstead Children in a Common Law Court of record so the Public can see and be able to judge
to be posted all over……..
To be fair, Lee probably didn't send us this fascinating announcement intentionally. It was meant to answer a question from Andy Devine, in a seemingly interminable email thread begun by John 'The Schnozz' Paterson. Lee probably just forgot to check who was on the recipients list when he hit "reply all".
Here's Andy's question:
ps do you still not think there should be a retrial on the Hampstead Children in a Common Law Court of record so the Public can see and be able to judge for them selves (sic), do you still think it irrelevant the people accused of having Tattoo's-Birthmarks-Piercings-scares (sic) by the children in places the children should not have known? I for one would like that accusation proven wrong then I might think like you, however the fact that simple process wasn't done leads me to believe this needs a retrial, so why "DONT" (sic) You????
Let's leave aside for the moment the fact that there was no "trial" on this case, as no one was ever charged following the police investigation—though in our opinion Ella and Abe should have been charged, if not with child abuse, then at least with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Fortunately for Ella, Abe, and Sabine, the court hearing was not in a Crown court, but in the family division of the High Court; and it was a fact-finding hearing, not a criminal trial.
Andy and Lee are dredging up the ludicrous issue of the tattoos yet again, failing to recognise that that particular horse has been deceased for the past three years, and that there is absolutely no point in continuing to flog it.
So how will a "jury in a Common Law Court of record" solve anything? And why will said jury consist of 24 people rather than the usual 12?
According to a site called Freeman Legal Services,
The Grand Jury of Peers is the most potent and lawful force which mas (sic) can assemble to hear wrongdoing. There is NO legal fiction, persona, corporation or entity which can withstand its judgment and is composed of "men and women" not legal fictions, and requires no authority from any external source. It trumps the Supreme Courts of England and the USA and the ICJ and any other fiction court which sits is finery on this planet.It's yours, it's here now and you are going to love it because you will understand it. The Grand Jury has the power and authority and precedence to judge facts as well as law – AS ALL JURIES HAVE. It is a deliberate falsehood to purvey that they can only decide fact!
Note to Lee, Andy, and Belinda: no amount of Freeman on the Land woo can make such a court "lawful".
Holding any sort of public pretend court to "prove" that the Hampstead SRA hoax was somehow real is against the law, for the simple reason that victims and complainants in cases involving sex offence victims are automatically given lifelong anonymity under UK law. If their names or images are dragged out in public yet again, this will constitute contempt of court (the real court, not the pretend one). And we all know what recently happened to Tommy Robinson. 'Nuff said?
As for the issue of the tattoos, aside from the fact that it would have been illegal for the police to demand that people reveal any distinguishing marks without their having been charged with a crime, it sounds very much like Lee and friends are contemplating some form of vigilantism.
Are they planning to somehow force the people of Hampstead to demonstrate their lack of tattoos, etc.? If so, we're afraid they can look forward to being charged with assault, at the very least.
If all of this is the subject of the "very secret conclave" which Belinda attended on 19 May, it sounds an awful lot like a group of people might be conspiring to commit a number of crimes.
Whether it involves assaulting the innocent people of Hampstead, or illegally publicising the names of RD's and other people's children, any "public Common Law Court of record" would be very much against the (real) law.
Just to be on the safe side, we've informed the police of our suspicions. You're welcome.


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SAN DIEGO (AP) — Like Batman responding to a beaming Bat signal in the sky, fans are streaming to San Diego for the 45th annual Comic-Con pop culture extravaganza.
The four-day festival celebrating film, TV, video games, comic books, costumes and other popular arts kicks off with a preview Wednesday night and goes full force Thursday at the San Diego Convention Center.
More than 150,000 fans are expected to attend the sold-out event, where studios will offer exclusive previews of their latest properties.
Television is making a bigger splash than in previous years, with several shows diving into the 6,500-seat exhibition hall that's traditionally been movies' main home at the convention center.
"This is the year that we'll see as much TV (as film), especially in Hall H," said Matt Atchity, editor-in-chief of RottenTomatoes.com, which aggregates film and television reviews.
Here's a peek at some of the most anticipated presentations:
FILM: Marvel Studios hasn't revealed any specifics about its panel, but a look at "Ant-Man" and the next "Avengers" installment seem likely. Paramount is bringing its live-action take on "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," starring Megan Fox and Will Arnett. Warner Bros. will feature "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" and its reboot of "Mad Max." Fox is introducing a spate of films, including the animated "Book of Life" starring Channing Tatum. A few others: Focus Features' animated "The Boxtrolls"; the sequel to Frank Miller's "Sin City"; Daniel Radcliffe's first Comic-Con appearance for the upcoming "Horns"; and the annual appearance by festival stalwart Kevin Smith.
TV: "Game of Thrones" and "The Walking Dead" will each take over Comic-Con's largest hall for panels with cast members and creators. Joel McHale and other stars of "Community" will discuss the future of the comedy after its move to Yahoo. Guillermo del Toro plans to present his creepy new FX series, "The Strain." SyFy's "Sharknado" roars in with stars Ian Ziering and Tara Reid for a peek at the sequel. The creators of BBC America's "Orphan Black" will be on hand with star Tatiana Maslany. Other TV panels tempting fans: Emmy favorites "The Big Bang Theory" and "American Horror Story"; FX's "Sons of Anarchy"; and the CW's "Arrow" and "The Vampire Diaries."
GAMES: Ubisoft is promoting the free-running adventure "Assassin's Creed: Unity" with a French Revolution-themed parkour course that will be open to wannabe assassins. The cast and crew of the cops-and-robbers shooter "Battlefield Hardline" will be on hand for a panel, as will the creative forces behind the latest edition of the toys-meets-game franchise "Skylanders: Trap Team." Meanwhile, Nintendo will showcase "Super Smash Bros." and other titles at its gaming lounge, while Sega will hype the cartoony "Sonic Boom" and the sci-fi horror "Alien: Isolation." Other games on display: multiplayer racer "The Crew" and blocky Dark Knight romp "Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham."
OTHER FUN STUFF: MAC Cosmetics is unveiling its new collection inspired by Marge Simpson and offering "Marge Makeovers" at its downtown San Diego store. Crave Online is throwing a party aboard the USS Midway aircraft carrier featuring live performances by MGMT and Grimes. Adult Swim is bringing its Fun House back to Petco Park, and introducing a "Meatwad Full Dome Experience" that includes a free T-shirt at the end. Hello Kitty will also be at Petco Park, celebrating her 40th anniversary with free temporary tattoos.
AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang contributed to this report.
AP Entertainment Writers Sandy Cohen and Derrik J. Lang will be tweeting from Comic-Con: www.twitter.com/APSandy; www.twitter.com/DerrikJLang.